


A Hope and A Spell

by Bunny268



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Amnesiac Derek Hale, M/M, Magic, Magical Stiles Stilinski, Mutual Pining, Oblivious Derek Hale, Oblivious Stiles Stilinski, Temporary Amnesia, Witches
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-22
Updated: 2019-06-29
Packaged: 2020-05-16 16:17:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 10,124
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19321705
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bunny268/pseuds/Bunny268
Summary: Derek gets tossed across the woods and hit with a spell. Everything seems fine, but the next day he doesn't seem to remember the pack or anything about his life. Deaton has a spell to get his memory back, but it requires something that no one thinks exists anymore - someone he loves who loves him in return. Will they find someone who fits the bill? Or will they have to find another way to defeat their witchy foe and get Derek back to himself?





	1. Witch in the Woods

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this a few months ago and then totally forgot to check it through so that I could post it! I finally got around to checking it over so hopefully, it's not too terrible. Anyway, it's my first multi-chapter fic, and only the second one I've written but it's finished and I will be posting the chapters regularly. I'm not sure exactly when yet, but I'll try to set up some sort of schedule once the first two chapters are up.

Chapter 1 – Witch in the Woods

The blast threw Derek backwards into a tree and Stiles bolted over before he could even take a breath let alone process the thought that he was probably being too obvious in his panic for the werewolf's safety. Even as he reached Derek's side a moment later and the thought penetrated that he had moved faster even than any of the many creatures surrounding them who possessed supernatural speed, he couldn't bring himself to care. He had never been good at hiding his feelings anyway, if Derek didn't already know at this point it would be a miracle and most likely he was just being kind (a dangerous concept which only served to make him more attractive) in ignoring Stiles' obvious drooling over him regularly. 

He scrapes his knees along the floor as he tries to slow down before he crashed himself into Derek and made matters even worse. Derek was blinking his eyes and beginning to stir already and when he locks eyes with Stiles they start to clear, and Stiles released a breath he hadn’t realised he had been holding. He looked over his shoulder checking that they aren’t about to be attacked again, and finds that the witch has disappeared and the rest of the pack appears to be heading in their direction now to check on their Alpha. Stiles turns back to Derek to give him a once over and can’t see any blood or serious looking damage, Derek slapping away his hand when he tries to check the back of his head so most likely he had been panicking for nothing.

"Derek, you okay?" Scott asks as he arrives at his side and Stiles realises he hasn't spoken and his breathing is still ragged, it is entirely possible he had been on the verge of a panic attack. He takes in a few deep breaths to calm his racing heart and tries to listen as Derek assures Scott and the rest of the pack that he is fine.

"What happened? Where did she go?" Derek asks frantically as his eyes dart around the clearing in the middle of the preserve.

"I don't know" Scott replies "I looked over to check you were okay, and when I looked back she was gone." He glances around at the others all shaking their heads, no one seemed to have seen her disappear.

"Never mind that now" Stiles pipes up "Let's get out of here before she comes back, we can regroup, rest, research, you know... The three R's" he jokes awkwardly.

The others nod their agreement, blessedly ignoring Stiles’ nervous jabbering, and they split up into groups of two or three to head back out of the preserve and meet up back at the loft.

Scott glances at Stiles to see if he was planning to stay with Derek now that they had helped him up from the ground. Seeing Stiles nod Scott continues with Alison and Isaac leaving the two of them to slowly move off together. 

They walk in silence for a while, Stiles biting his lip to keep from asking Derek if he was okay again, which he knew would only serve to irritate him. Eventually the quiet gets the better of him and he has to say something.

"Did you know that 2.4 million people suffer traumatic brain injuries every year in the US alone?" Stiles blurted out for lack of something better to say. "Of course I'm sure the average is higher for werewolves but who would know, ya know? Not like there are any residual injuries to check on right?" he continued, rambling now to fill the empty air.

"It’s good really that these things don't have a cumulative effect on you guys, as many concussions as you have had you'd probably have permanent damage by no..."

"Stiles!" Derek cuts him off mid waffle, turning to face him in the darkness, causing Stiles to stop short and stumble over the tree root he was about to step over.

"I'm fine." Derek states with some intense eye contact that makes Stiles' heart race and he sucks in a deep breath to calm himself.

"You're fine. Of course, you're fine" Stiles mutters to himself mostly, but he can't bring himself to break eye contact. A moment later, just as Stiles begins to wonder for probably the millionth time what colour Derek's eyes are, he pulls his eyes away and the moment (if you could call it that) is broken. 

Later when he's lying in his bed replaying that moment Stiles wonders if he imagined how intensely Derek looked at him. Was he trying to reassure Stiles because he knows that the young Spark is ass-backwards in love with him? Or just trying to shut up the stream of consciousness that he knows will go on for hours while Stiles is that anxious. It's most likely a combination of the two, and that is the last thought Stiles has as he drifts off into a dreamless sleep that he so often struggles to find nowadays.  
Stiles wakes the next morning at around 10, which is still too early considering that they had been in the preserve until 3 am then it had taken him a long time to shut his brain off from pondering all of the things that could have gone wrong, to the buzzing of his phone on the shelf above his bed. He was amazed it was still on since he had predictably forgotten to put it on charge when he got home. 

Grabbing it up and bolting upright in bed with a groan, his mind clears enough to realise anyone contacting him right now isn’t just ‘checking in’. He jams the charger by the bed into the phone so that it doesn't die as soon as he answers and swipes blindly at the screen without looking to see which pack member it is. 

"Stiles, you need to get over here right now!" Scott practically yells in his ear as he picks up the phone.


	2. Stiles the Alpha Whisperer

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Stiles arrives at the loft to find a very confused pack and an angry Alpha who seems to be scared of everyone but him for reasons as yet unclear.

Chapter 2 - Stiles the Alpha Whisperer

"Woah, woah, woah slow down Scotty. What is going on?" 

"It's Derek. Somethings not... right. We need you to come help figure it out and fast." Scott is still talking but Stiles can barely hear him over the growling in the background. 

"Okay, okay. I'm on my way." Stiles cuts him off, he is not going to get any more useful information right now. 

Dropping the phone, Stiles jumps up pulling on jeans and a t-shirt. After a quick run to the bathroom to freshen up, he grabs his phone and the charger, figuring he will plug it in over at the loft, and is out the door.  
Fortunately, it's not quite so early that his dad hadn't already left for work so he doesn't have to waste time explaining why he is suddenly running out the door in a panic (again – this is becoming a bad habit of his). Dad would understand, but based on how worried Scott sounded he doesn't have time for delays right now. 

He spends the whole 10-minute journey anxiously running his mind over last night. He had thought Derek was fine when he left him, did he miss something? Or was this an entirely new threat? Unfortunately, in Beacon Hills, it really could be either, or even a combination of the two. Stiles' life was never dull. 

He manages to arrive at the loft without either crashing the jeep or getting pulled over by one's of his dad's deputies (despite the fact he was going at least 10 miles over the posted limit - it was Derek okay?). Running into the building filled with dread he reaches the door and finds Isaac already waiting to let him in. 

He doesn’t bother asking any questions, just rushes past him and into the main living area where the growling seems to be coming from. 

He slows as he takes in the scene in front of him. Derek, crouched behind the sofa just his eyes visible over it which are glowing bright red but look more afraid than anything else. Scott, Lydia and Boyd are all surrounding the living space, their hands raised in a sign of peace and a careful distance away from their very growly Alpha. 

As Stiles approaches, Scott, sensing him there, spares him a glance before returning his gaze to the strange scene in front of him. Stiles follows his lead, speaking to Scott while looking at Derek. 

"What the hell happened, dude?" he asks, instinctively keeping his voice low and calm to avoiding agitating the terrified looking werewolf behind the sofa. 

"No idea!" Stiles shoots him a brief sceptical glance, and in a true testament to their lifelong friendship, Scott gets the message without evening seeing Stiles' face. 

"Seriously man, I stayed here last night with Boyd and Isaac in case the witch came back. Everything was fine when we went to sleep. Then this morning Lydia shows up with breakfast for everyone and wakes us up and all of a sudden Derek is full on wolfed out growling at all of us and hiding behind this thing like we're about to attack him! That's when I called you dude. "

Stiles is confused beyond belief, but he can tell the others are no better off so he doesn't push it. He does have to ask one question though. 

“Why did you call me? I mean I'll do what I can to help, but surely, you know, out of control Alpha you want the big guns, not the ridiculously skinny ones?" 

"Because Stiles, it's you. You spend more time with Derek than the rest of us, and you know him better. We figured maybe you could get him to calm down." Lydia jumped in with a flick of her hair, rolling her eyes as if it should have been obvious (which it probably was to her, but then wasn’t everything obvious when you were the queen of ‘attitude’ with a ridiculously high IQ?)

Stiles didn't know whether to be flattered they thought he could calm down the big bad Alpha, mortified that they all knew about how obsessed with their de-facto leader he was, or concerned that they were expecting so much from him.

He took a deep breath and focused on the red eyes he could see just peering over the top of the sofa back. Studying their Alpha for a moment Stiles could tell that apart from anything else, even though he was growling and snarling, Derek was scared. Why he would be scared of his pack he had no idea, but all of them crowding around him and looking defensive certainly wasn't going to help the situation. 

"Guys, I think you all need to just back off and give him some room," Stiles said softly. He can sense the incredulity without even looking at his friends so he continues. "You wanted my opinion, right? Well, he looks scared to me. I think you guys are intimidating him for some reason, so just back off into the kitchen and let me see if I can get him to talk to me?" he concludes, sounding far more certain than he feels. 

Stiles doesn’t bother to turn to see if they are following his instructions, just keeps his eyes locked on the very nervous looking werewolf behind the throw pillows. A moment later he felt them shifting behind him, and he knew when they were all out of view because Derek suddenly looked far less terrified and after a few beats of silence where he and Stiles just stared at each other he slowly began to straighten up out of his crouched position. 

"Hey, big guy." Stiles began cautiously, releasing a small relieved sigh as he seemed to be calming down. "How are you doing? What's got you so freaked out, huh Derek?" 

Derek's eyes which had been cautiously looking around the room cut suddenly back to look directly at Stiles and he finally spoke. 

"How do you know my name?" 

Well... That was an interesting development. Stiles had one moment's relief when he realised that the Alpha wasn't feral, at least he was speaking English now. Then he took in what he was being asked and his panic levels rose far higher. Derek didn't recognise him. 

Emotional gut punch aside, this didn't bode well for whatever was going on with him. That spell had done more than any of them realised, and Stiles highly doubted that it has just erased HIM from Derek's memory. Seemed like that would be a little unnecessary, it's not like Stiles was all that important to the big bad alpha anyway (as much as he might wish he were).

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay so I've put the first two chapters up now, so I'm planning to put up a new chapter every couple of days.


	3. Stiles' Terrible, No good, Bad Idea

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Stiles has an idea to help Derek, it's not a good one but it's the best they have right now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm back - I told you it would be every couple of days. Frankly, I have waited so long to post this because I hadn't edited that I am having to force myself to be patient and not post it all at once. Maybe I should just do that though? Let me know if you would rather I just posted the last two chapters together in the next couple of days. Anyway, here goes I hope you enjoy it.

Chapter 3 - Stiles' Terrible, No Good, Bad Idea

20 minutes later after asking Derek a few more questions about who and what he remembers and reassuring him multiple times that they are on his side, Derek is no more relaxed than when the pack first left the room. 

"Dude, I don't know how to make you believe that we are on your side when you have no memory. But you are our Alpha and we would never hurt you." 

"It's not that I don't believe you St... Stiles" Derek stumbles over his name. "But I don't remember any of you. Apart from my name and the fact that I'm a werewolf, I don't remember anything."

He hesitates for a moment seeming to assess how he is feeling then says, even quieter than before, "I don't feel like I should be scared of you though, the others made me nervous but... I feel... I don't know less scared with you here..." he trails off, clearly uncomfortable admitting this much to an effective stranger.

Okay... Awkward. And not something Derek would normally have said. But at least it's progress. Stiles shakes off the warm glowing feeling at being the one Derek feels safe with, reminding himself that this Derek is having trouble even remembering his name so he shouldn’t let himself get too carried away.

"Well, maybe that's just because I'm the only human? The others are all supernatural so..." Stiles decides to let that go because if that isn't why he has no clue what to make of this situation. 

He does have an idea of how to show Derek that he isn't in danger, but it's not a great one to be honest so he has been putting it off waiting for inspiration to strike with a better plan. After texting Lydia about 10 minutes ago with a brief update he asked her to call Deaton, but unless they can fix Derek super-fast they need to at least get him on their side or that witch is going to be back sooner rather than later and they will be sitting ducks. Ducks without an Alpha, and ducks who are frankly a bit of a mess when fighting without their fearless leader. 

Stiles tried to take charge a few times, but once the wolves are let loose they lose all sense of a plan and if Derek isn't there to guide them they are screwed going up against that witch again. 

"Okay... so I have an idea... but you're probably not going to like it..." he begins uncertainly. 

 

*~~~~~~*

"Are you sure about this Stiles?" Scott asks with a pinched look on his face. Stiles knows that look, that's his 'Stiles has another crazy idea' face. 

"No Scott, I'm not sure. But we don't have any other better ideas right now, and in the short term we at least need to prove to Derek that we are not his enemy!" Stiles repeated for what felt like the millionth time. He knew none of the pack would like his, admittedly risky, suggestion, but it was all they had. 

After a moment’s further hesitation, Scott seemed to accept that this was the best idea that they had, took a deep breath and cautiously moved towards Derek who was sitting back to front on one of the kitchen chairs nervously staring at Stiles. 

"It's okay, big guy" Stiles tried to sound reassuring, but even he was nervous and it wasn't his neck on the line - literally. 

"Let’s just get it over with" the broody Alpha muttered gruffly, trying to sound less concerned than he was. 

Even memory erased Derek didn't want to look weak in front of his pack, it seemed to Stiles that though he might not remember why he knew he didn't want them making fun of him later for being terrified of Scott of all people. Scott was a puppy! 

That's exactly why Stiles suggested he be the one to share his memories. Nothing too tortured or scary in there (any more than anyone else anyway), and Stiles knew Scott would be careful what he showed but still get the message across. 

Derek tenses in the chair as Scott moves in behind him, the muscles in his shoulders going tight as he resists the urge to move away from the unknown werewolf coming towards him with his claws out.

"Brace yourself" Scott warns, and then with one deep breath, he slides his claws swiftly into the back of Derek's neck, wanting to get this over with quickly and painlessly. 

Scott concentrates on what he wants to show Derek at this moment, images of how they met (neatly avoiding anything to do with death, Peter, or arrest records), and flashes of the other beta's as they joined his pack, training and running together, fighting together, Stiles and Lydia researching. He even lets his mind drift a little to a few lighter moments they have shared, nights when fighting the latest ‘big bad' in town hadn't been the reason for them spending time together, but instead, they had hung out watching movies and eating takeout. 

Once he feels he has gotten his point across, Scott opens his eyes and careful withdraws his claws from his Alpha’s neck, feeling a little shaky and lightheaded. He plonks down into a nearby chair and through weary eyes looks up at Derek to see if he has managed to reassure him, and is slightly concerned when he notices that Derek hasn’t moved or opened his eyes yet.

From his spot on the coffee table opposite Derek, Stiles can see tears have sprung up under his eyelids and he leans forward to rest his hand on Derek’s knee.  
“You okay there? Derek?” He says, quietly, careful not to shock the man into being fully alert in case he is still processing what Scott has just shown him.  
Derek blinks then, his amazing green eyes swimming with unshed tears as he stares at Stiles and when he finally speaks it's just a soft rasp. "I'm okay, just… that was a lot to take in. And it's a weird sensation, knowing that I have a pack, that I care about all of you, but not remembering it…" He trails off, clearly feeling self-conscious about admitting his feelings, but Stiles gets it. It must be a little like mourning, knowing you care for people but not remembering how or why so you can't truly experience it. All the more reason to get Derek back to normal as soon as possible. 

"It's alright big guy, we're going to figure this out okay?" Stiles says patting Derek's knee reassuringly. He would never normally dare to be this touchy-feely with the man he cares so deeply for, fearful of overstepping some unspoken boundary or forcing his feelings on the older man making him feel uncomfortable. But right now, Derek doesn't remember that Stiles has a hopeless crush on him, and if Stiles can make this situation even a little better then pride be damned. He just hoped that when he got his memories back, Derek didn't hold this vulnerable moment between them against Stiles. 

Derek finally pulls his gaze away from Stiles eyes, seemingly calmer and reassured and takes in the rest of the pack waiting in various places around the loft. They are all attempting to look unaffected, uninterested in whether Derek is going to be okay or not so as not to put too much pressure on him. But even Stiles, who doesn't have any super-senses to pick up chemo-signals, thinks that they all suck at trying to hide their tension over the situation. Erica, in particular, is sitting in Boyd's lap talking to him quietly, having shown up shortly after Stiles did, but the lines of her shoulders show just how stressed she is waiting to see how Derek will respond to all this information. Of course, she doesn't know what Scott showed him exactly, and it's entirely possible that Derek has suddenly been reminded of the time she and Boyd trying to leave his pack and run away. Stiles knows Scott would never have shown him that and upset him, but Erica's guilt over it might be enough to worry her anyway. 

“Right, come on Alpha!” Stiles forces out cheerfully. “Let’s go get you cleaned up a bit… and let some of this tense atmosphere dissipate huh?”  
With that Stiles grabbed Derek's open hand from where it was resting on his knee, and pulled him to standing and towed him over to the bathroom to freshen himself up and give them all a moment to breath.  
When they reached the door, Derek turned back to Stiles looking a little sheepish – which was a new and interesting experience for Stiles to witness.  
“Would you mind…uh... waiting here for me?” He asked at a volume so quiet that Stiles can barely register. “I’d just feel more… well…”  
Stiles cuts him off there, afraid that if he tries to be any more articulate he will hurt himself with all the ‘feelings'. "That's fine man, got nowhere better to be. I'll just be right out here when you're done, okay?" he reassures, trying not to be too pleased with the relieved look that passes over Derek's face as he relaxes his tensed shoulders and heads into the bathroom.


	4. The Witch Is Back

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Strange things are happening in the neighbourhood. Deaton finally has a counter-spell but Scott is convinced it won't work. Lydia disagrees. And Stiles and Derek don't have a clue what is going on.

Chapter 4 - The Witch Is Back

A short while later, Stiles is resting against the wall opposite the bathroom with his eyes closed listening to the rustle of Derek getting dressed when someone shouts his name from the other room – sounding concerned but not quite at Def Con 5 yet.  
Stiles straightens up but shouts back that he will be there in a second because he can hear Derek is nearly ready and he doesn't want to break his word to be out there waiting for him.   
No sooner has he called out, than Derek appears from the bathroom looking concerned.  
"I don't know man," Stiles answers the unasked question written all over the alpha's face. "I was waiting for you."   
They walk together to the living area and find the pack still clustered together, but Scott looking even more concerned than he was when they left and looking down at the cell phone in his hand as though it will somehow simultaneously solve all of his problems and make them a hundred times worse.  
“What’s up?” Stiles asks warily, sparing a glance at Derek beside him to make sure he is still calm despite all the tension that even Stiles can feel in the room without super-wolf senses. So much for letting the atmosphere dissipate Stiles thinks, exasperatedly rolling his eyes.  
“Deaton just called” Scott begins as Stiles groans, that cannot be good news. Deaton never has good news, he’s like allergic to it or something.  
“Yeah…” Scott says, seeming to agree to Stiles’ unspoken assessment of the situation. “Do you want the bad news or the bad news?”  
‘Ah so it’s like that’ Stiles thinks as he feels Derek tense beside him, waiting to find out how this will affect him and his memories, or current lack thereof. “Just tell us what’s going on Scotty, don’t beat around the bush, I get the feeling we don’t have time for that right now anyway”. The pack seems coiled to spring into action.

“So Deaton says that he found the counter spell to the curse…but it’s a bust.” Scott says guardedly.   
"There's no way we can make it work, so our only option is to get the witch to reverse it" he concludes and glances around the room at the rest of the pack locking eyes with Lydia for a moment before quickly tearing his eyes away. There is something that he is not telling them, Stiles realises, and Lydia disapproves.   
He’s not sure if it’s something Scott doesn’t want to tell Stiles, or if he doesn’t want to say in front of Derek to avoid freaking him out even further, so he decides to let it go for now and drill Scott later for the missing information.

“Okay, not helpful. So what now? Do we have any leads on finding her?”  
"Well, that's the worse news. She's been creating havoc the last couple of hours. Your dad called Deaton because he's been getting reports of strange things happening in the homes closest to the preserve."   
“What kind of strange things?” Derek asks hesitantly and Stiles looks to him approvingly, glad that he is making an effort at least.  
"Really strange, dude. Like all of their left shoes being missing, furniture being attached to the ceiling and people finding their hair has been dyed pink without their knowledge. Weird!" Scott concludes. "For the moment it's harmless stuff, and your dad has everyone thinking it's teenagers pulling pranks, but who knows how long before she escalates to missing limbs instead of shoes?"   
“The good news” Lydia interjects “is that it does give us an idea of where she might be.”  
‘Thank you, Lydia, for getting right to the point at last'   
"Okay good, so search teams then?" Stiles asks. Lydia and Scott share another look and seem to have a silent disagreement, which Scott inevitably loses.   
"We are all going out to search," Lydia says finally. "But Deaton wants you to go and help him with something, I'm not sure what, you know Deaton is frustratingly vague but it sounded important so you should go. We'll call you if we need anything"   
Stiles is frustrated, to say the least, it feels a lot like he's being benched. One look at Derek's sour face and he can tell that the alpha is no more pleased about this arrangement. However, it doesn't seem as though Lydia is going to relent on this one, and fighting her on it would just waste time they didn't have.   
"Okay," he agrees before he can work himself into worrying about it further, resolving to get over to Deaton and get whatever this was over with as quickly as possible and get back out with the rest of the pack.   
They talked for a few more minutes, deciding on how to split up to search the most likely areas of the preserve closest to the homes that were being terrorised, and then gathered their things and left together.  
Derek hesitates outside at the cars, looking nervously to Stiles, seeming reluctant to let him go, but once Stiles gives him a reassuring pat on the back he takes a deep breath and turns to get in the Camero with Erica and Boyd. Stiles gets into his jeep and sits for a moment watching them all drive off, before starting his engine and heading towards the clinic to see what this mystery assignment is.

*~~~~~~*  
Once he arrives at Deaton’s it becomes clear very quickly that this ‘assignment’ was not his idea at all.  
“So… you told Scott this spell wouldn’t work?” Stiles asks, trying to clarify what exactly he was expected to do here.  
"No. I told Scott about the counterspell and we concluded it most likely would be ineffective in this circumstance" Deaton said, clarifying exactly nothing.   
“So then why am I doing it anyway?”   
"Miss Martin seemed to feel that it might be worth a try and that you were… the best qualified to attempt it"   
“And Scott didn’t agree” Stiles realised, now their silent argument made more sense.  
“Not exactly… but it couldn’t hurt for you to try. You certainly couldn’t make matters any worse, so I agreed with Lydia that I would show you how to carry it out and see if it made any difference.”  
Stiles still felt like he wasn’t getting the whole story here, but since it might help Derek and get him out of here faster he decided that getting answers wasn’t his priority right now.  
“Okay then Doc, what do I do?”

*~~~~~~*  
Derek stayed silent for a long while as he and Scott trekked through the preserve side by side. They were on alert looking for the witch anyway, and Derek was grateful for the excuse not to make conversation.   
Technically he knew that Scott was his friend, his beta and that despite not being one for conversation any way he should feel more comfortable around him than he currently did. But knowing, and feeling were two different things. The memories were in his head somehow, but they didn't feel like his – most likely because they weren't.   
Still, Scott didn't seem to want to push Derek anyway, so they concentrated on their search and tracking down that witches scent. Of course, Derek was mostly relying on Scott for that as he couldn't remember her scent, and just keep his ears alert for anything unusual.   
A while later when they were nearing the edge of the preserve and the end of their search area they began to relax, it didn’t seem like they were going to find anything.  
Scott let out a sigh of resignation and cut his eyes towards Derek, probably worrying about getting his memories back for him.  
“We’ll find her” he tried to reassure Derek, confirming his suspicions of what he had been thinking about.  
“I know. It will be fine I’m sure. Maybe Deaton will come up with something to make that spell work.”  
“No man, I hate to say it and I know Lydia disagrees with me, but I don’t think that’s going to work. It required something very specific that I just don’t think exists any more.” Scott said looking sad and Derek felt a little like he was being pitied which he couldn’t understand at all.  
Before he could ask Scott what that ‘something very specific’ was, they heard a howl from the east.  
“Erica!” Scott exclaimed and then took off running towards the sound with Derek on his heels, both of them shifting as they ran to prepare for what they might find when they reached the rest of their pack. If he concentrated Derek could feel them all running nearby now, closing in on the sound of Erica’s howl, whipping through the forest as fast as they could.  
They broke through the treeline near to the river on the easternmost side of the preserve almost at the same time as Isaac carrying Lydia on his back (Derek took a moment to be impressed at his speed even carrying the human, all be it a small one) and Boyd.   
Erica stood at the centre of the clearing facing the witch, who currently had her arms wrapped around Alison shielding herself from the rest of the pack.  
Derek glanced around the clearing taking in 'his' pack, all of whom looked angry, scared and completely unprepared for this situation. Suddenly he understands what Stiles had been worried about when they realized they might have to face an enemy without their Alpha, without him. No, not him. Because without his memories he couldn't begin to formulate a plan, he didn't know these wolves, didn't know their strengths and their weaknesses and how to get them to work together as a team. 

*~~~~~~*  
Stiles felt like an idiot. What the hell was he doing sitting here in the middle of a veterinarian's surgery, surrounded by candles attempting a spell that was by all accounts doomed?   
“Stiles, you have to concentrate and believe it, the spell only works if you..”  
“Believe it will, I know Deaton, I know. You've told me that every time we do something like this, but I just can't switch it on you know? I don't understand why I'm the one here doing this anyway, and I'm worried about the pack out there searching for this witch without me, and...”  
“Okay, okay” Deaton pauses seeming to consider the situation for a moment before he nods to himself and decides what he wants to say.   
“The reason that you are here, why Lydia believes perhaps you can get this spell to work, and I tend to agree... is because you love Derek”  
Stiles' mouth drops open, a rare bout of speechlessness causing silence to fall between the two men. After a moment though Stiles realises there is no point denying it and that if that's why he is here then at least he can make an effort and see if he can help Derek. Maybe he could never tell his alpha how he feels to his face, maybe he has no chance with him, but if loves Derek and all he wants is to have him back to normal. If Stiles can make that happen just because he loves him, then that's kind of a miracle and might make the fact he is doomed to unrequited love worth it.   
Stiles takes a deep breath and closes his eyes, holding the candle up in front of him and concentrating everything he has on how much he cares about Derek and his belief that his feelings can be enough to bring him back. 

*~~~~~~*  
Scott is growling low and dangerously, clearly starting to lose his calm while this crazed witch has her arm wrapped around his girlfriend. Isaac and Boyd aren't fairing any better with Erica separated from them and so much closer to danger and Derek can feel the situation about to spiral out of control but he has no idea how to stop it.   
One moment he standing there and desperately trying to figure out how to convince this magical menace to let go of Alison and back down, and the next he hears a whisper so low he can barely make out "remember". Suddenly it all comes rushing back with such force that he feels dizzy for a moment and stumbles forward slightly. He knows exactly who he is and what to do.   
His slight movement is enough to draw the attention of his betas to him, all unconsciously waiting for his command despite still believing that he does not have his memories. Derek takes that opportunity to flash his eyes at them in turn, hopefully conveying to them that he is back and will take it from here.   
“Scott” He barks, cutting off the growing stream of growling coming from his second. Emotional compromised at the moment, Scott is not best equipped to deal with this negotiation, because that's what it is now. This witch has one of their own and they aren't going to get her back without some pretty fast thinking.  
Derek looks back towards the witch and her hostage and tries to meet her eyes behind Alison's dark curls where she is hiding. He raises his hands in supplication and gestures to all of the others to take a step back, meeting Erica's look of disbelief with a hard stare that cows her into backing off.   
“Hey, look so far you haven't done anything terrible.” He begins hoping that he is judging this young woman correctly. “I don't think you really want to hurt anyone, and I should give you fair warning that the girl your currently using as a human shield is mated to one of my betas here” he gestures towards Scott who is still looking murderous, “and honestly if you hurt her I'm not sure if even I could stop him from ripping your throat out.”  
The young blonde's eyes skip over to Scott and then swiftly back to Derek, now looking a little less certain and Derek lets out a sigh of relief. He was right, she's acting out of defence and has no intention of hurting anyone.  
"We know you've just been playing tricks" he continues, thinking to himself that based on her behaviour and the little he can make out of her face from her she might be younger than they had been thinking. "And we don't want to hurt you either, so just let Alison go and move along out of our territory."   
She seems to think this over for a moment and then speaks, quietly but firmly and with more confidence than Derek would have expected given her current predicament.   
“How do I know that you won't follow me?”  
“Well you don't I suppose, but we have no reason to hurt you as long as you leave peacefully.”  
“What about your memory?” she asks wearily, clearly fearing the consequences of her earlier spell. And honestly, had his memories not just mysteriously returned to him then he might have been inclined to agree with her, the pack would likely have pushed much harder for her to take responsibility for her actions if their Alpha was still incapacitated.  
"Already returned to me..." He says with uncertainty since he doesn't know how exactly it happened if she hadn't done it. Proximity to the cause of the curse maybe? That's a question that can wait for another time.   
She looks surprised, but Derek is glad that he can see her face much clearer as she has loosened her grip on Alison's waist and seems to be relaxing now that she is realising that she might get out of this situation without using violence.  
Another moment of silence passes where she considers his offer to simply leave town before she releases Alison completely. Ali, to her credit, moves a few steps away and turns to face the woman who had been essentially holding her hostage rather than running directly back to Scott.   
There is a tense moment where they all seem to hold their breath and wait for the other side to make an unexpected move, but nothing happens, thankfully.   
One glance at the assemblage of wolves and humans in front of her and the witch seems to decide that she would be better served to take their offer and live to torment another day. She locks eyes with Derek and gives a quick nod, before a loud pop sounds and she disappears from the clearing and the bitter scent of magic hangs in the air.   
Once they are sure she is gone, the rest of the pack turns to Derek for an explanation and he can only shrug in answer to their unasked question. After a beat, they seem to realise that it doesn't matter why he's back, and they swarm him scent marking and hugging in their relief that their Alpha is alright. 

A few minutes later, once they have all calmed themselves, they begin the trek back through the woods towards the cars on the other side of the preserve. Derek is walking at the back of the pack keeping an eye on everyone when he feels Lydia's presence beside him.   
He meets her gaze as they walk and knows that he doesn't need to ask why she is there, she'll tell him when she is ready, but they both slow their pace slightly. Consciously letting the rest of the pack move further ahead out of earshot.   
“So... your memories came back?” She asks at last after they have been walking together in silence for several feet.  
"Yeah, strangest thing... maybe it was being so close to the witch who cast the curse?" Derek explains his earlier guess. However, he has a feeling maybe Lydia knows exactly why and how he came to get his memories back.   
“I've never heard of that reversing any spell or curse. Odd though that they came back at that exact moment, do you remember anything about what happened?”  
“Yeah, well sort of. I remember hearing a voice whispering to me to remember”  
Another silence fell between them, Lydia nodding to herself as though what he said had confirmed her suspicions, but of what he didn't know.  
After a couple more minutes of silence, Derek realised that she wasn't about to offer up anything further and that he was going to have to ask her if he wanted to know. He rolled his eyes but forced himself to ask anyway. Otherwise, she was just going to continue being quietly knowing and it would drive him nuts.   
“Okay, what do you know? Does this have something to do with the counter-spell that had no chance of working? Because Scott told me that you didn't agree with him about that. What was this really specific thing that it required but didn't exist anyway?”  
"Someone who you loved," Lydia spoke simply and quietly and Derek stopped walking.   
“Someone one... loved...” he muttered to himself. When he looked up Lydia had stopped a few feet in front of him and was looking back with an exasperated face as if he was taking far too long to figure it out. He wasn't of course, he knew exactly who that meant and why Scott had thought it wouldn't work.  
"How did you know to send him?" he asked after a moment. Trying to figure how Lydia had known about his feelings for the gangly, freckled motormouth who had just managed to retrieve his memories for him.   
“I see the way you look at him” she admitted. Derek wasn't entirely sure how he felt about that, but he supposed that there wasn't much to be done about it now.  
Looking down at the ground for a moment he tried to process the fact that Stiles had saved him, saved all of them really when a thought occurred to him and he jerked his head up to look at Lydia again.   
“Does he know? Why you asked him to do it?” He asked nervously.  
“No, not exactly”   
He didn't know whether to be relieved or not, because if Stiles had known and still done it that might mean... but no that didn't matter now.   
"But I think you should tell him" she continued "at the very least you ought to go and thank him. I texted him when we left the clearing so he knows everything is fine and that you got your memories back. He said he was headed home. You should meet him there."   
With that parting statement, she turned on her heel (how was she walking in the woods in those anyway?) and strode away from Derek leaving him there to stew in his thoughts. 

*~~~~~~*  
When Stiles got the message from Lydia that everything was under control and Derek has his memories back he was so relieved he slumped over on to the floor and almost set himself alight on one of the candles. Luckily he managed to avoid more than a singed flannel shirt and some slight embarrassment.   
He had been in the middle of repeating the spell for the fifth time when he received the text, and she hadn't said how Derek had gotten his memories back so he had no idea if 'the power of love' had worked, or if they had just convinced the witch to undo the spell herself. He was relieved either way, and he couldn't bring himself to ask Lydia which it was, not entirely sure he wanted to know the answer at least not right now.   
Physically and emotionally drained he relayed the information to Deaton, thanked him for his help which had been far less cryptic than normal, and headed home.   
When he arrived home and traipsed upstairs to collapse into bed he didn't notice anything unusual. That is until he heard a throat clearing from the chair at his desk and rolled over to find one alpha werewolf glowering at him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Almost at the end. Will these idiots finally get their act together? Spoiler alert - I have a serious aversion to unhappy endings so the answer to that question is obvious. Seriously, if I watch a horror movie and everyone dies I get very angry - why did I just waste my time watching and caring about these people only for them to all die?? Give me a happy ending any day! At a push, I will take bittersweet but only if forced. Leave me some comments and let me know what you think. I will be putting the last chapter up by Friday so you won't have to wait long for the ending.


	5. Miscommunication and Making Out

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We finally see how the spell worked, and what Scott and Lydia were hiding. Then our two lovable idiots end up in the same room fumbling around their feelings and trying to clear up some misunderstandings.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow! That's it guy's, the end. I hope you enjoyed it. I am sorry for not getting this up last night, I wasn't feeling very well. But I hope that you like the ending and that you will be happy you went on this journey with me!   
> All mistakes were my own as I don't have anyone checking these over with me, and I had a little trouble with getting it all in the same tense at one point so if you see any major issues with that let me know! I hope it's clear where the flashback was meant to have taken place - but if you're not sure it was while Derek was taking a shower back at the loft.  
> Also, I wanted to thank all of you for reading along and those that subscribed and commented and left kudos - you have made my day every time I've seen that so thank you so much.

Chapter 5 - Miscommunications and Making Out

*~~~~~~*Flashback*~~~~~~*

Scott watched his Alpha and his best friend as they walked away worrying only slightly less about the situation they had found themselves in.  
"Well, at least Derek knows we aren't his enemies now," he said with a sigh as he looked around the room at the rest of the pack. As reassurances went, it was pretty lacklustre, but it was the best he could do right now. He was running on fumes and Stiles was usually the one with all the energy and enthusiasm. Unfortunately, right now, his best bud was preoccupied with the unrequited love of his life having lost his memories, so his enthusiasm was unsurprisingly tempered. 

Taking a deep breath, Scott tried to gather his thoughts to formulate some sort of plan that involved as little of Derek's help as possible, again not really his area of expertise but someone had to do something and the rest of his pack seemed to be as stunned into silence by the change in their usual hierarchy as he was.  
Before he could even begin to start making some sort of (likely terrible) plan, his phone rang and with some relief that he could delay making any decisions he grabbed it and answered without bothering to check the caller ID. 

Ten minutes later when he hung up the phone from Deaton he felt no better about the situation. A common side effect of speaking to the cryptic druid, but in this case, unfortunately, more to do with the circumstances than Deaton's usual brand of low key angst. 

Glancing around the room he relayed for Lydia and Allison what Deaton had said, given that the others would have been able to hear both sides of the exchange.  
"So what your saying" Lydia interjected, "is that the only way to reverse the curse she put on Derek is for someone to say the counter-spell BUT it has to be someone he loves who loves him back?" 

A brief moment of silence followed as Scott nodded and they all absorbed this information. Things looked bleak.

“And to make matters worse, the witch is still here and messing around with the people living just outside the preserve” he added. “The upside is that she's around which means maybe we can track her down and make her reverse it herself”. 

It probably couldn't be referred to exactly as a 'plan', but given the circumstances, it was probably the best they were going to do. 

"Scott, don't you think that there is someone who could try the counter-spell," Allison said carefully, knowing that Scott wasn't going to like her suggestion.  
"No, I don't think so...." 

"Oh come on Scott!" Lydia burst out before lowering her voice as she looked towards the hall were Stiles was currently standing likely just out of earshot. "We all know that Stiles is in love with Derek, and I think there is a shot of it working if he does it." 

“Derek has never given any indication that he feels the same way about Stiles, and I refuse to put him through that only for it to not work and have his heart broken because not only does he know for certain that the man he loves doesn't love him back, but he will be without his memories possibly forever because of it.” 

Scott's passionate speech was met with silence and he took that to mean that they all understood and began to turn away before Lydia piped up again. 

“What if we don't tell him why it has to be him?”

“What do you mean?”

"Well, you're worried about protecting Stiles right? But I think that there is a good chance it might work. So what if we just don't tell him why it has to be him. We tell him that Deaton needs his help with something and if he pushes we just tell Deaton to tell him that he is the one who has to do it because he loves Derek? He doesn't need to know the rest of it, and if it doesn't work then no harm done.”

Scott was already shaking his head as the redhead continued speaking, but Allison laid her hand on his arm and he looked into her eyes which were pleading with him.  
"Scott, I know you're trying to protect Stiles, but this does both. We can protect his feelings but if he finds out that he could have done something to help Derek and we kept that from him he will never forgive us." 

He knew she was right, he just really didn't want to see Stiles' face if he found out for certain that Derek has no feelings for him. Scott took a deep breath and tried to reassure himself that there was almost no way that Stiles would find out unless the spell worked. 

"Okay" he agreed wearily, "Stiles" he called out to his friend, hopefully, they can build a more solid plan together. 

*~~~~~~*End Flashback*~~~~~~*  
"Derek, what are you doing here?" Stiles asks cautiously. He hopes that none of the pack had been so callous as to tell Derek exactly why he had been trying to reverse the curse placed on him. Unfortunately, the fact that he didn't seem inclined to meet Stiles' gaze didn't exactly bode well in that regard. 

"I uh, I wanted to thank you" Derek begins hesitantly glancing up to Stiles' eyes and back down again and pulling on the sleeve of his leather jacket in a nervous tick which was much more typical of Stiles' ADHD then Derek's usual demeanour which is weird. 

“Lydia told me that you were trying to reverse the spell that witch put on me, and it seems like it worked so...”

Derek trailed off and took a deep breath, finally raising his gaze to meet Stiles'. He needed to know if Stiles knew exactly why he had to be one to break the spell, had to make sure that if he did know he was sorry for putting that pressure on him.

“You know man, not a problem. Anyone would have done the same. I mean you would have done it for me right?” 

'You have no idea how right you are' Derek thought.

A moment of silence passed between them, heavy with all of the unsaid words. Stiles tried to hold his tongue, he did, but it just wasn't in his nature and he could never be accused of being patient. The words burst out of him in a rush before he could stop to think too hard about them. 

"So, someone told you right? Why they asked me to do it? Or maybe you guessed on your own. But you know, don't you? Yeah of course you do, that's why you're being so quiet and awkward. Look I just want you to know that it doesn't have to mean anything. There's no reason to read anything into this or expect anything..." 

Derek's eyes jumped up to his face as he began speaking and at this point, he jumped in feeling the need to reassure Stiles now that he had breached the subject they had been skirting. 

“Stiles, of course not. I don't expect anything. I'm so grateful that you got my memories back for me, but I don't want you to feel any pressure or to feel like you have to act any differently around me just because it's out there now. I'm just... I really only came here to thank you and to apologise.”

Stiles looked bewildered at that “Apologise?” his voice cracked as he asked, stressed from the tension of the moment.

"Yeah, I never wanted you to find out. And I'm so sorry that it had to be like this, I mean I didn't even get to tell you myself. Not... not that I would have but... And I didn't want you to feel pressured like this. Just the fact that you had put yourself through that counter-spell to get my memories back was more than I would have wanted you to have to do just because I'm in love with you. Now that you know I don't want you to feel obligated to do anything else..." 

Derek trailed off at that point, after saying more in one go than he probably had in his entire life because the look on Stiles' face, his dropped jaw and utter disbelief was disconcerting and suddenly Derek felt like maybe they had been having two completely different conversations, and oh god why did he choose now to suddenly start word vomiting his feelings all over the place.

"You...You're...in love...with me?" Stiles' voice was barely above a whisper, but unfortunately, Derek is cursed with super-hearing so he can make out every syllable as well as hearing the stuttering of the heartbeat underneath them. 

"You... didn't know that....oh god. Well, now I'm even sorrier." 

"Know? How on earth would I know that? You have never, not even once, given me any reason to think that you liked me as anything more than a friend. Hell, most days I'm pretty sure that I register more as a pain in your ass than anything else." 

"But Lydia said... that's what the whole spell was about. You had to do it because it had to be someone that I loved. Did they just not tell you that part?" Regret set in as Derek realised that Stiles hadn't known about that part of the spell and that he had made things awkward between them both for no reason. Humiliated and feeling the tips of his ears turn pink, Derek stared at Stiles without blinking. 

Stiles' jaw was beginning to ache with how often it was left hanging open in shock and he snapped it shut as he realised that this was real. Derek was in love with him. Derek was in love with him. Holy shit!

"Wait! So that's what they told you? They told me it was because I'm in love with you! That it had to be someone who loved you. I mean I get how they knew about me, I'm about as subtle as a brick and I pretty much trip all over myself every time I'm around you trying not to seem like I'm ass backwards in love with you which I'm sure has the complete opposite effect. But you... I'm blind-sided here dude. I honestly would never have guessed so I don't know how any of them did." 

This time when Stiles looked up as he heard Derek's sharp intake of breath he realised immediately that despite him honestly believing that the object of his affections had known exactly how he felt and had been politely ignoring it, that Derek had genuinely had no idea until this very moment. It occurred to him that this meant that maybe there was hope for something more between them. 

Even after hearing Derek's accidental confession, his mile a minute brain had been quietly working on the theory that the reason that the alpha had never told Stiles about his feelings for him was that he didn't have any desire to act on them. Now it seemed that perhaps he honestly believed Stiles wouldn't be interested in him. Which was crazy, and they were going to have to work on his self-esteem probably almost as much as Stiles needed to work on his own if that was the case. 

They stood frozen for a few breaths, looking at each other and processing the fact that both of them had just admitted to feelings they had been holding back for who knew how long and that they probably had permission to act on them now.

Since Stiles' brain worked faster than pretty much everyone else's, especially given how much Adderall he had taken when he first arrived home to compensate for how drained he had been from the spell work, he got there first. 

Still, he didn't want to make assumptions or push too hard, so he moved a few steps closer to Derek, who was still standing at the doorway to his room looking like he might be thinking about bolting at any moment. 

Stiles knew he would have trouble believing what he was hearing, but he wasn't going to let the brooding alpha run away so easily now that there was a chance he might get what he always wanted. So he spoke, calling Derek's attention back to him and out of the swirling vortex of self-doubt he was no doubt about to mire himself in. 

“So.. if I love you... and you love me... I mean what do we do with that information?” He asked gently but with a tiny flicker of hope.

Derek met his eyes and opened his mouth but nothing came out, and that tiny flicker began to fade as the moment seemed to pass.

Stiles began to lose hope and he lowered his gaze to the ground in front of him accepting that despite appearances Derek had no interest in pursuing a relationship between them when he registered movement across the room and assumed that Derek had decided to leave before things got any more awkward between them. 

Letting out a sigh, Stiles resigned himself to trying to forget this whole mess, but before he could fall too far into his shame spiral he felt a hand under his chin tilting his face up to meet Derek's gaze. Derek, who hadn't left but had moved closer to Stiles and was now right in front of him and gazing into his eyes in an unfamiliar but entirely thrilling way. 

“Stiles” he began so softly that if they hadn't been standing just a breath away from each other there's no way the sound would have reached Stiles' ears. “If I had any idea that you... that we... well I would have done this a long time ago”. And before Stiles could catch up Derek's lips were on his, his hand still gently tilting up his chin.

Their lips brushed for a moment, their breathing unsteady, and they moved together gently. Then Stiles' brain caught up to what was happening and he moved his hands, which had been hanging limp against his sides, up into Derek's hair as he pulled them closer together and put more force into the kiss. 

Derek's breath caught in a hiccup as he was overwhelmed with the feel and scent of Stiles all around him. He never allowed himself to be this close, for fear of giving away his feelings and embarrassing himself, and now that he was finally allowed it was everything he had ever imagined and more. Stiles smelled like warmth and joy and honey, and as his lips parted and allowed Derek access, their tongues brushed and an electric shock ran through him at the sudden and untameable lust which seemed to roar to life between them like lighter fluid to a flame. 

When they broke apart moments later, breathing heavily, Stiles let out a huff of a laugh. “I can't believe this took us so long” he murmured against Derek's mouth.  
They fell together again, breathless kisses making up for the lost time. When they finally came up for air it was to snuggle up together in Stiles' tiny single bed, which was far too small for two grown men but they made it work, neither of them wanted much space right now. 

Stiles drifted off to sleep wrapped in Derek's arms listening to him whisper all the things he had waited so long to hear, how much he loved him, how beautiful he thought Stiles was, and how he couldn't wait to spend every night just like this from now on. It was almost too good to be true, but Stiles wasn't about to question it – if he was dreaming he would gladly stay asleep forever.

The next day when they finally roused themselves from bed after sharing sleepy kisses and cooking breakfast together, they finally got around to checking in with the rest of the pack and saw messages from Lydia asking if everything was okay. A few messages later the whole scheme made sense, and the two lovebirds were forced to thank Lydia for getting them to come to their senses. She took their thanks with her usual good grace and only asked that she be the maid of honour at their wedding. 

Three years later when they stood up in front of their families and friends to become husbands, Lydia was not only the maid of honour but she was their wedding planner, but they didn't begrudge her the control as without her help there might never have been a wedding.


End file.
